9070xt vs 7900xtx

[Etask]

 

Hi,

after several years I’m finally planning to get a new rig, mostly for playing DCS world and MSFS24.

I’m a bit unsure on which graphic card to get. I wanted to get a 5080 but prices are well above MSRP, and for a lot less money I could get a 9070xt or 7900xtx. From benchmarks there’s not a huge difference with the 5080.

7900xtx is older gen, no FSR 4 support (maybe in the future), but it has slightly more raw power and 24GB memory.

9070xt is new gen, FSR 4 support (not sure how this would eventually look in DCS, once supported), but less raw power and 16GB. 

Benchmarks for the two cards are almost identical, but I’m planning to upgrade to a 4k screen and I was thinking 24gb might be better for DCS.

Both are similarly priced.

Or should I just pay more and get the 5080?

Thanks!

Edited March 21 by Etask

[LucShep]

It depends what are your user needs/preferences, more than just budget (though of course value for money is important).

The Nvidia RTX 5080 16GB is just too costly for what it is, IMO it makes no sense at current "real" prices on any of its versions.
The AMD RX 7900XTX 24GB is indeed an interesting proposition because of the much bigger VRAM buffer (24GB). But then the performance is somewhat equivalent to the new RX 9070XT while being considerably more expensive than it, it also runs hotter (higher power consumption), plus it's limited to FSR3 (which is far lower quality), and when the newer RX9000 series are getting all the focus from AMD for driver updates now, it then makes it less appealing. 

Instead, I'd suggest getting an Nvidia RTX 5070Ti 16GB or an RTX 4080 Super 16GB, if you can get one priced up to $100 more than the AMD RX 9070XT 16GB.
If the price difference gets bigger than that, then I'd entertain the idea of an RX 9070XT 16GB acquisition. 

Overall, for a 4K resolution screen, any of these three mentioned GPUs will satisfy.

If you intend to use DLSS upscaler (and maybe also its Frame Generation) either Nvidia model will, of course, be the imediate choice.
But, with the AMD RX 9070XT you can force FSR4 with similar result, through the drivers, on games that haven't adopted FSR4 - that is, if the game supports older version of FSR.
And if it doesn't, and the game of your choice only supports DLSS, then there's also also Optiscaler to go around that if with AMD (see video demo here).

If considering VR use later, then either Nvidia model will surely be a better choice. But that doesn't mean the new AMD RX 9070XT won't work "good enough" in VR (see here).
 

Edited March 21 by LucShep

[Aapje]

My main suggestion is to wait a month or two, since we already see indications that things are improving (dropping prices and more availability).

Other than that, I agree with @LucShep suggestion, and especially to look at your local prices, since it can very much differ per country what the prices are.

Edited March 21 by Aapje

[Etask]

Thank you LucShep! Unfortunately 4080s are very difficult to find where I live…and as expensive if not more than a 5080. 

Maybe as Aapje suggested I’ll wait a couple of months and see if prices start to drop back to normal…otherwise I’ll get a 9070xt.

Still running on a gtx1080 right now…served me well for almost 8 years. That was good value for money!

[Qcumber]

12 hours ago, Aapje said:

My main suggestion is to wait a month or two, since we already indications that things are improving (dropping prices and more availability).

I would advise that too. Depending on where you live you might be able to get a 5080 at MSRP. I'm in the UK and used a tracker app to alert me of availability. I just managed to get a 5080 FE at the new price of £949 from NIVIDIA. Just be patient and keep your phone nearby for alerts. You need to be quick.

Edited March 22 by Qcumber